Six years after devastating damage, MUW building back

Mississippi Business Journal, The, Sep 22, 2008 by Cotton, C Richard

Sometimes it takes a little time to get things going. Sometimes it's worth the wait.

The restored Arts and Design Building at Mississippi University for Women (MUW) in Columbus perfectly illustrates that. Partially destroyed in a 2002 storm, it sat unused for six long years. That should change by October, when the rebuild is complete, and during Christmas holidays, when the structure should be reoccupied.

"The tornado took the entire roof off, and it sat empty all that time," explains Sam Wise, the university's director of facilities. "The equipment room even had a tree growing out of it."

Nora Miller, the school's vice president for finance and administration, says the long period of being without a home for the arts classes, studios and workrooms was remedied by moving those students and faculty into Shattuck Hall, a building on campus previously used for storage.

"They've been very patient campers over there and they are really excited about (moving back in)," says Miller.

The delay, she explains, was caused by the former practice of insuring Mississippi's university buildings through the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the state equivalent, MEMA. FEMA's original estimate for the rebuild was $1.4 million. But, Miller says, "There were some things they did not include."

The formerly two-story building, which was constructed in the 1960s, had before the storm been remodeled and a wooden-structure third story added to the building. "That's what blew away," says Miller, explaining that the school wanted the roof truss system replaced with steel.

After a period covered by tarpaulins, a temporary roof was constructed and it sat as FEMA and the university tussled over monies for the restoration.

"We waited and waited," says Miller, "so eventually did it ourselves."

Repair bids came in at approximately $3.4 million. Then Hurricane Katrina hit and derailed FEMA for at least six months. Miller says the agency last summer raised its damage assessment to $3.2 million, after returning some of its attention to places other than the Gulf Coast.

"FEMA said some of the work was improvements so we paid the remainder from state bond money," says Miller. (Like most state colleges and universities, MUW has opted out of the FEMA program and taken out property insurance with private insurers. It pays a premium of $200,000 per year.)

"Being unused for five years, there was a lot of mold and mildew," says Wise.

"And there were a lot of code issues," Miller adds, referring to primarily electrical and HVAC regulations that had changed since original construction 40 years ago.

The entire interior of the 35,000-square-foot building was gutted by Rick Williams Construction. Columbus-based West Brothers Construction, which put the new roof on four years ago, then won the contract for rebuilding, which Miller says will eventually total $5.4 million.

Project manager Rob Winklepleck says the company began the project February 1. He says the work is on schedule and should reach "substantial completion" by October 1. No weather days were included in the contract since the work is almost entirely interior.

"There is a 6,000-square-foot parking lot we ripped up and are pouring back," says Winklepleck. The largest change order has been pouring an additional 4,000 square feet of concrete for additional parking that will serve the arts building and adjacent structures.

Inside, Winklepleck says things have gone smoothly, the biggest problem being installation of HVAC. "It's not the units themselves," Winklepleck explains, "but the duct sizes were the problems.

"Ceiling heights were already limited." Field changes provided solutions to wrangling ducts larger than 1960s ducts into place.

The building has required some specialty equipment, such as photography darkrooms, fume hoods, exhausted paint booths and others.

Winklepleck calls the ground floor the building's "showcase," which includes a large foyer, atrium-lighted commons area and a 49-seat auditorium. The second and third floors house studios, work areas and classrooms. Also on the third floor are faculty members' combination studio/offices.

Porcelain tile and carpet constitute the flooring finishes on the first floor, while the upper stories are VCT or painted concrete. Suspended ceiling tiles are used throughout most of the building.

Winklepleck says the biggest hurdle associated with the project has been the ongoing auditing necessary to satisfy FEMA's construction schedule regulations for payment. "Plan changes have been minimal and we have been able to save the university some money."